God of Magic 2

by Logan Jacobs

  I still didn’t know what he intended to do with the clanspeople he’d cursed, but I wasn’t sure I cared. I could feel the bitterness in his magic, the age-old malice, and I didn’t need to know more to be sure I wanted to stop him.

  Over in the camp, motion drew me out of my thoughts as Lavinia stirred. She looked confused for a brief moment when she saw my things all packed up, but it didn’t take her long to see me standing several yards away. I raised my hand in greeting, and she threw back a cheeky salute before she got up and walked over.

  "You’re up early," she commented when she reached me. The cold morning air had turned the tip of her nose and ears pink.

  "Well, you know, there’s nothing like a rigorous morning jog before you go on a rigorous day-long hike through icy mountains," I replied.

  "You don’t miss the desert, do you?" The ladona woman’s grin was teasing.

  "If I’m being honest," I said, and I made my voice solemn, "fighting off a horde of rabid halflings just did something to me. Forget this guild stuff, I think my calling is in the ring."

  Lavinia rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t hide the smile that tugged at her lips.

  "You could do it, too, you know," I told her. "Aerin could be our manager, and Maruk will be our life coach when the fame gets to our heads."

  "Unfortunately for your dreams of becoming the heavyweight halfling boxing champion,” Lavinia chuckled, “it’s better for everyone that we keep Aerin as far away from betting pools as possible. She can really lose herself."

  "No kidding?” I asked. “I would have expected she’d hate gambling. She’s usually so cautious about money."

  "You wave a big enough grand prize in her face, and she’ll throw all caution to the wind," Lavinia replied, and then her expression became serious. "Don’t bet against her, though, and especially don’t try to play cards with her. She’ll clean you out."

  I laughed.

  "Good to know," I said. "What about you?"

  Lavinia cocked an eyebrow. "What about me?"

  "Do you have any secret vices or hidden talents I should know about?"

  "Oh, you’re interested in my hidden talents?" Lavinia asked, and then her eyes flicked down to my mouth.

  “Well,” I started, but just then, there was a flash of bright red from the camp as Aerin sat up, her mussed wavy hair like streams of flame.

  Lavinia let out a short breath as she turned back to the camp. "We’d better get everyone else up. We’ve got a long day ahead of us, and Maruk has to go through his whole morning routine."

  Then Lavinia walked back to the camp and nudged the orc’s sleeping form to wake him up. I could hear her arguing with Maruk as I followed her back.

  Maruk muttered something I couldn’t make out as he pulled his blanket over his head.

  "Yeah, well, we didn’t come here on vacation, did we?" Lavinia replied, her hands on her hips.

  Aerin yawned and stretched her arms over her head.

  "Come on, Maruk," the redheaded elf coaxed. "We’ve got work to do."

  Lavinia gave up on the orc and started to clean up the camp instead, though I suspected she went about that work as noisily as possible on purpose. I helped Aerin and Lena get their gear packed, and then we shared acorn cakes with berries for breakfast.

  When everyone was awake and ready to go a few minutes later, albeit some more grudgingly than others, we started along the winding trail into the valley beneath the imposing shadow of the great mountain ahead.

  Chapter 18

  The hike was rigorous and cold. Every one of our breaths was strained, and none of us spoke except to warn the others of a dangerous step ahead or to curse in frustration. It seemed as though the closer we got to Aurelius’ mountain, the rougher the terrain became as if the old mage had somehow instructed nature itself to repel us. Even the weather seemed to be working against us. Though the day started out clear but cold, by the time we’d made it into the valley below, thick clouds that threatened storms of ice rolled in. It seemed as though the temperature had been dropping steadily since the morning as well, though we’d had no reason to suspect storms or cold fronts before.

  Still, I could feel the draw of Aurelius’ magic just as strongly as the forces that seemed to be intent on keeping us away. I knew what force it was that drew the cursed people from their homes and their families. Aurelius wouldn’t be expecting us, however, and he was going to have to answer for everything he’d done.

  It was well into the afternoon by the time we’d made it even halfway up Aurelius’ mountain, and we’d been compelled to slow down due to the sleet that made the granite flanks of the mountain even more treacherous. Any time I slipped on the rocks, I thought of the cursed clanspeople and wondered how they were supposed to make the same journey in their states. If the cold didn’t kill them, a fall certainly would.

  By the time we reached the end of the switchbacks in the foothills leading up to the mountain’s peak, we were all exhausted. Unanimously, without the need for a single word, we all stopped for a short break beneath a wind-battered pine tree and drank deeply from our canteens. The water was refreshing, but all the same, I found myself wishing for something warmer … and stronger.

  The narrow trail we had taken up the side of the mountain widened up ahead, but the small mercy was countered by the fact that the thick clouds ringed around the mountain peak formed a nearly impenetrable fog that prevented us from seeing the way ahead after forty feet or so. It was impossible to tell how far we were from the edge at any given time, and I knew the landscape could be just as lethal to us as the mage we were about to face.

  When we started along the trail again, I led the way forward slowly. Without the shelter of the forest, the wind bit deeper and colder as it screamed across the mountain peak and buffeted our small party. Ice stung the exposed parts of my hands and face and clouded my vision even more than the fog did, and the farther we went along the trail, the slower I was forced to go.

  I stopped and held up my hand for the others to do the same as a gangly figure lurched forward onto the trail ahead. I could tell just by the way the person moved that he had to be one of the cursed clanspeople, not Aurelius himself. Whoever it was, he was the first of the clanspeople we’d seen who made it this far, and unlike our other encounters wherein the afflicted traveled together in groups, he was alone. I wondered if he was simply the only one of his group to have made it up here.

  As unpleasant as the thought was, the realization that came to me next was worse. I recognized the sick person’s long, awkward limbs and the spear he still carried, though he now dragged it alongside him as though he’d forgotten he still had it.

  It was Gaerwen, the boy who I’d first met on the trail when we came into the Canterrose Range.

  My stomach twisted in renewed anger as I watched Gaer stumble up the path. All the other victims we’d encountered had been grown adults, but Gaer was still so young. He’d been perfectly healthy just days before, and now, he could barely keep his feet under him. Whatever Aurelius was doing, he didn’t seem to have any qualms about who he hurt.

  I already knew there was no way we could stop Gaer from following the pull of the curse, no way to snap him out of it, so instead, I motioned for the others to follow me as I shadowed the human boy up the steep mountain trail.

  The dense fog pressed in more and more around us until I was obligated to trail a mere fifteen feet or so behind Gaer just so I wouldn’t lose sight of him. Thanks to my ability to sense Aurelius’ magic, I could have navigated the way to the mage’s hideout blind, but I wanted to keep an eye on Gaer, at least until we arrived. It was clear Aurelius wasn’t overly concerned with the wellbeing of the people he’d cursed, and one wrong step could mean Gaer would plummet thousands of feet to his death.

  We followed the boy forward, slowly but surely. It was difficult to keep track of the time in this world of endless gray and white, and my thoughts became fixed simply on keeping Gaer’s hazy silhouette within sight. I couldn’
t have said how long we fought against the wind and snow as we trekked across the mountaintop after Gaer, but finally, our journey met its end.

  A solitary structure of gray stone rose up out of the mist so suddenly it was as though it simply materialized in front of us.

  I didn’t have any expectations for what we would find up here, really, whether Aurelius would be stationed in a grand fortress or a mildewed cave.

  The truth, as it turned out, was somewhere in the middle.

  Aurelius’ hideout resembled what I imagined the castle where the trolls had lived might have looked before it fell to ruins. It was built for function over grandeur, with high walls of plain gray stone and a few narrow windows that stared bleakly out at the surrounding area. It bore the look of an abandoned monastery, and some of the outlying buildings had begun to crumble and give in to the eternal fury of the elements. There were no shutters on the windows, and though I knew there must have been wooden doors at some point, they had long since rotted away. The only part of the structure that held up to the test of time was the single square tower that rose up into the mist, and I knew immediately this was where Aurelius made his home.

  Gaer had already disappeared through the gaping doorway of the main building by the time we reached the outer wall that surrounded the place.

  "Be ready!" I warned above the screeching winds as I stopped on the threshold and turned back to my guild. I didn’t know if Aurelius was aware of us or not, or what we could expect once we crossed into his domain. Even if he’d seen us from the windows, he might have assumed we were more victims of the curse, but I didn’t want to let my guard down, not until Aurelius was dead. With our weapons drawn and our eyes open for traps and other dangers, we filed inside.

  Without doors or windows to keep the heat in, the inside of the old building was just as cold as outside, but at least the walls provided shelter from the worst of the wind and there was a roof to keep out the snow. The antechamber we entered was totally bare, and the other rooms we passed through were just the same. Whatever this place had been once, its history had been long since gutted, and all that remained was the shell.

  It was dark, but I could hear the tap of wood on stone as Gaer dragged his spear over the uneven cobblestone floor, and I followed the sound. All the while I stayed alert for booby traps or other automated defenses, magical or mechanical, but there were none. I supposed Aurelius figured no one could have made it this far … or that he would have no trouble fighting off anyone who did.

  I looked forward to proving him wrong.

  A long, dark hall led to a set of stairs, and I could just see the heel of Gaer’s boot disappear up the steps as he began to climb up them.

  My nerves buzzed as I led the way to the foot of the stairs, and I could sense Aurelius’ magic all around, dark and heavy. My pulse quickened as images from my earlier nightmare flashed in my mind, and it almost seemed as though the very blood in my veins was humming with the memory.

  I took one last look back at the others, and they all nodded in return, their expressions resolute. They couldn’t sense magic the way I could, but I wondered what they felt here, or if they were afraid at all.

  Aerin, in particular, had shadows in her eyes. I wondered if the healer’s aura sight affected the look of this place.

  "Do you see anything strange?" I asked her in a voice barely over a whisper.

  "It’s dark," she replied, and then she frowned and shook her head. "I mean, there’s a magical darkness on top of the regular darkness. It’s the same as the auras around the sick people, like smoke, but dark red."

  A chill ran down my spine as I recalled the blood-red smoke from my dream. Well, there was certainly no doubt we were in the right place.

  I knew the others shared my conviction for what we were doing, and I was glad to have them all behind me.

  With one hand on the hilt of my dagger, I started up the steps.

  As we moved quietly up the spiral staircase, I could hear the soft thunks of Gaer’s spear on the stone steps, and a man’s voice as he muttered fervently to himself. There was a pause when the sounds of Gaer’s spear stilled, and then the man spoke up.

  "Ah, there you are," he snapped, his tone like that of an impatient parent. "It’s about time you showed up. Go over there."

  The thunks started up again as Gaer crossed the room at the top of the tower. I crept forward carefully to try to get a view of the tower room from around the bend of the staircase as Aurelius began to mutter to himself again.

  Aurelius himself was dressed in simple robes of deep maroon and had a dark fur-lined cloak thrown over his shoulders to keep out the cold. His hair was mostly white, but there were still hints of the original dark blond. His short beard was neatly trimmed, and he wore a few rings on his gnarled fingers. Despite the deep lines in his face, there was a youthful, excited light in his pale blue eyes as he fiddled with one of the instruments on the desk he was bent over.

  That low table was crowded with thick books, loose papers, clusters of jars and vials, and a variety of instruments and devices like those I’d often seen in the window of the alchemist’s shop in Ovrista, though these appeared to be much older models. More tables with even more books, vials, and strange devices lined the other walls of the tower, and the old mage had covered the walls almost completely with papers and diagrams that showed different parts of the human body. This was clearly a place devoted to Aurelius’ research, and there was room for little else besides the frayed old rug covered in stains and the low cot shoved into one corner, almost like an afterthought.

  Gaer stood in the other corner, his eyes blank and his spear grasped limply in his hand. Several other people I hadn’t seen before stood with him. More victims of Aurelius’ curse.

  "Must be around here somewhere," Aurelius murmured as he crossed to another desk and began to flip through a large battered tome that lay open across it. As he moved, I caught the glint of a gold chain around his neck, and though the pendant was tucked beneath the collar of his robes, I knew at once it had to be the medallion we’d come to retrieve. But why was he wearing it? If anything, I would have expected it would be mounted on a stand on one of his desks, another tool of his studies.

  As Aurelius moved around the room, I drew my dagger and summoned the mana blade forth. There was no reason to wait or to delay this confrontation. Aurelius was going to answer for what he’d done to Corulin’s clan, and we were going to take the medallion. With a last glance back at my guild to ensure they were ready to face the mage, I moved forward into the room.

  At first, Aurelius barely looked at us. He was so absorbed in flipping through that book of his, and perhaps he assumed we were more of the cursed clanspeople drawn here against our will. I was once again surprised by the mage’s attitude. Between his inattention now and the lack of defenses in the tower, I wondered that someone so infamous could be so careless or else just so arrogant he didn’t think anyone could have come to challenge him. When he finally did turn to us, however, his eyes widened in shock, and he dropped the vial he’d taken from the desk. Dark liquid spilled out and sank into the rug at his feet.

  "Who--" the old mage started to ask, but then he broke off and shook his head. "No, no, I know who you are. You’re all the same." His lip curled up in a sneer. "Have you come for me, then? Or were you after this?"

  He pulled at the chain around his neck and drew out the enchanted medallion. The dark red stone at the center glinted faintly in the light from the lamps positioned about the room.

  "Both, actually," I answered. "Whatever you did to these people, this sickness you caused, you’re going to undo it. Then you’re going to hand over the medallion, and you’re going to come back with us to Ovrista to face justice."

  Aurelius’ eyes narrowed. "And why would I do that?" he asked, then he scoffed. "Look at you! You don’t even know who you’re dealing with, do you? I’m one of the greatest mages this world has ever known! You heard whatever watered-down tales the arch-mages deci
ded to pass down and thought you could take me on?" He laughed. "You thought you could come here and start issuing orders? No, no. I spent over a decade perfecting this curse."

  He threw his arm up and pointed to Gaer and the others. "Have you ever seen magic like that? These people are totally under my control. If I told them to throw themselves out of the window, they would do it without a second thought. What I have accomplished here is revolutionary."

  "Why would you do something like this?" Aerin demanded. Then she stepped forward to face Aurelius, her fist clenched tightly around her axe. The fury and pain in her voice were like nothing I’d heard from her before. "You were a genius, you could have used your magic to help people!" Then, with a sort of personal remorse, she added, "Not to mention become extraordinarily wealthy!"

  "I am a genius!" Aurelius corrected her, “and the mages you all serve are cowards. They’re too afraid, too weak, to unlock the full potential of magic. We have been given a tremendous gift, and they would bind it at every turn." His voice trembled with fervor. "There was a time when mages were the rulers of this world, and I will see us returned to our rightful place!"

  "He’s completely insane," Lavinia growled.

  Aurelius turned to her with a sneer. "Well, aren’t you a good little puppet? You think what I’m doing is wrong, but you’re more than happy to play guard dog for the Mage Academy."

  "Enough of this," I ordered. "This is your last chance, Aurelius. You can surrender and return with us to Ovrista, or you can die here now."

  "I’ll return to Ovrista, yes," the old mage said as he turned his gaze back on me. "My work here is done. I’ve perfected my curse, and when I unleash it on you and on all the mages in Ovrista, then people will see me for what I truly am: a god."

  Then several things happened at once.